Official Grand Opening of new library Saturday

One of the largest and most unique buildings constructed in Fallbrook in decades will celebrate its official grand opening on Saturday, Jan. 22. The ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new state-of-the-art Fallbrook library, slated for 10 a.m., will launch a full day of activities designed for the entire family.

“There will truly be something for everyone,” said Ceci Rincon, Fallbrook branch manager.

After the ribbon-cutting, which will be officiated by county dignitaries and instrumental local planners, activities will include a children’s concert, face painting, circus arts, crafts, electronic game competitions, a clown, puppetry, a jazz band, Flamenco dancers, and much more. Refreshments will be provided from 10 a.m. to noon.

“There is such a feeling of excitement about having this in the community; a great sense of anticipation,” said Marlo Miller, president of the Friends of the Fallbrook Library, the organization that operates the Bottom Shelf Bookstore and has contributed almost $3 million to the project.

While the $11.5 million, 20,000 square foot structure located at 124 South Mission Road, bordered by Alvarado and Fig Streets, is finished by normal construction standards, the Friends say it is far from complete, and that’s a good thing.

“After the completion of [the structure], it feels like a new beginning, because we are just starting!” said Miller

Friends’ library building project chairperson Jerri Patchett agrees.

“It’s thrilling as we begin a whole new phase for Fallbrook and the services we will have,” said Patchett. “Watching each phase has been an unbelievable, happy journey.”

The fact that the project finished both on schedule and within budget makes San Diego County Library Director Jose Aponte happy.

“It is noteworthy that the project is on time and within budget, and I think we can identify why,” said Aponte. “This was a team-based project from the onset, and that team has consisted of members of the community, the Friends organization, elected officials, the design and contracting teams from the private sector, and the county general services project team. It is a team that has worked very well together and this building has Fallbrook’s signature all over it. It’s unlike any library I’ve ever opened.”

When the project was in the formulation stage six years ago, Aponte said Patchett told him “we are going to build a library.” And that’s what happened. It became a reality before all the funding was secured.

Aponte said the initial idea brought forward by Patchett and other locals was that Fallbrook needed a new library not only to provide the normal materials, but one that could be viewed as a “town center.”

“A place where the community of Fallbrook could celebrate itself as well as build, grow, prosper and network,” said Aponte. Hence the large “community room” included in the interior of the structure.

“The building has one of the largest, if not the largest, community rooms of any of our facilities and can easily serve as the Fallbrook town hall,” said Aponte, adding that the room carries an occupancy factor of 200, but can be easily divided into three or four smaller meeting spaces which could be used concurrently. An adjacent outdoor patio can provide space for another 200 individuals.

The “community” aspect of the library goes further than just meeting space, however. It contains resources and places for residents of all ages – from children to seniors.

Computers are plentiful in the new library as it boasts a computer center for adults, laptop [computer] bars, a teen homework center with tutorials, and those in the children’s section. And the building is wired with WiFi, which Aponte said is necessary in the rural areas of the county.

“There are benches all around the outside of the building and people can go online in the proximity of it 365 days a year. That’s important because not everyone has connection to the Internet. Forty-five percent of rural populations do not have connectivity and 40 percent of seniors have no connectivity at home.”

In addition to the good inventory of useable computers, Aponte said there is also a “generous complement of outlets and data drops throughout the building.”

“There are literally computers all over the place,” said Marlo Miller, president of the Friends. “The teenagers in the community asked for this.”

Enlisting the input of local teens at Fallbrook High School was important to the library planners.

“We wanted to have the high school students very involved,” said Rincon. “The youth really are our focal point. The County is adamant about engaging teenagers in this process; to let them make choices and for us to listen to them.”

Not only did teens have a say in the planning of the library, but Rincon has extended an invitation for students to become volunteers.

“We definitely have volunteer opportunities for teens,” she said. “We already have some [teens] that have come forward and it’s very rewarding for us to see that.”

“The Friends wanted [the new library] to be a magical experience for teens and children,” added Miller. “The Rotary Club of Fallbrook specifically donated $100,000 to the project to help provide the teen center.”

But most of all, Miller said, “kids will have a positive place to go, instead of a negative one.”

Rincon said the library already has 28 programs ready to go in the new structure and they include a reading program for parents and babies and up.

“All the programs we offer are in response to requests we have gotten,” said Rincon.

Of special benefit to elementary school age children in grades first through fifth will be the homework center area where volunteer tutors will help children weekdays after school and on Saturdays.

The Pala Band of Mission Indians, which committed to $200,000 in funding over four years, enabled the library to make the children and family section quite comprehensive.

The new library houses 60,000 pieces of inventory, but millions of titles are available through the connected library system and special link feature. Expanded collections now exist in topics relating to the arts, health and wellbeing, garden, and children’s literature.

“The Fallbrook Healthcare District donated funds for the expanded health and wellbeing collection; Rally for Children provided funding for the children’s library; the Fallbrook Garden Club sponsored more reading material related to gardening,” said Patchett.

The various entities involved in the construction of the library credit each other for the overall successful completion of the structure.

“Over government has listened to us, specifically Supervisor Bill Horn and [County Library Director] Jose Aponte,” said Patchett. “Overall, the County listened to us.

Aponte, in turn, said, “This would have never been possible without the commitment of the Friends of the Fallbrook Library.”

While no one will dispute the increase in connectivity to resources the Internet has provided, don’t tell this group you think libraries are becoming a thing of the past.

“Contrary to the belief that